Birthday cake for a special friend

For me a birthday party, is not a birthday party, if there is not a birthday cake. My friend Hannah makes my load lighter when I host our birthday parties, by baking a cake or decorating the girls’ birthday cakes. This week the honor was mine and I baked a cake for Hannah’s birthday.

Sponge cake is a cake made of flour (usually wheat flour), sugar, and eggs. The Victoria sponge cake was named after Queen Victoria, who ate a slice of sponge cake with her afternoon tea. A traditional Victoria sponge cake has raspberry jam and whipped double cream or vanilla cream. The jam and cream are between two sponge cakes. The top of the cake is not iced or decorated.

A good sponge cake is essential to any baker’s repertoire. My mom taught me how to bake our family’s favourite sponge cake when I was about 10 years old. I baked it nearly every Saturday throughout my childhood and I still know the recipe of by heart.

Usually I ice this cake with a standard butter icing, with added lemon zest. For Hannah’s 30th birthday, I wanted to make it a bit more special. I baked two cakes and used three layers topped with loads of whipped cream and fresh strawberries. We ate the fourth layer with our morning coffee the following day!

Sponge cake

Ingredients:

337 g cake flour ( I know it is crazy right! Why not 340 g? But this is what I was taught)

337 g sugar ( again not a printing error)

225 g butter

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

4 eggs

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

Frosting:

750 ml whipping cream

2 heaped tbsp icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla

Method:

The second best part of the recipe (the first being the taste), is how easy it is to make.

All you need is a free standing electric mixer. Add the ingredients, in the order listed, to the mixer.

Beat at high speed for 5 minutes. Stop the mixer every now and then to clean the sides with a spatula if neccessary.

While the mixer is doing its job, grease and line 2 round cake tins with baking paper.

Divide the batter into the tins and smooth over. Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the tins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla essence.

Place one layer onto a plate and spread it with plenty of raspberry jam and then whipped cream. Top with the second layer and spread with more raspberry jam and then whipped cream. Top with the third layer, spread with whipped cream and top with fresh strawberries and edible flowers.

Do not forget the birthday candles!

Happy birthday Hannah! Hannah’s little boy enjoyed the cake for sure!

Please visit my Romancing the home friend’s blogs for more feminine inspiration!

No Comments

Categories

About me

My name is Liz, but I have a few tags: mom, wife, owner of Zau Spa in Cullinan and now blogger.
Discover below my personal hand-picked and enjoyed Francophile finds. From books to gardens, recipes and much more. Pictures are all my own.